Stanton Ramil sees 'strong sense of brotherhood' on MSU offensive line (SP)

Michigan State offensive tackle Stanton Ramil recently signed with the Spartans in December and enrolled in January. Ramil spoke to the media for the first time as a Spartan on Wednesday.

When top-level high school prospects get recruited, they typically have a large variety of schools and programs to choose from. Ramil had offers from many top programs, such as Clemson, Penn State, Tennessee and several others, but something stood out about Michigan State's offensive line room, offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic and head coach Mel Tucker.

“There’s a strong sense of brotherhood among the O-line,” Ramil said.

Tucker and the staff did a great job of selling the future of the program to Ramil.

“Just seeing what the environment is like off the field…I saw a team that wanted to take it to the highest level possible,” Ramil said.

Ramil saw a team that was unselfish, and one that appreciated and embraced the coaching staff.

While recruiting stars and rankings are paid attention to for high school prospects, Ramil, being a four-star prospect himself, realizes that it all gets erased once on campus.

“I throw it out the window,” Ramil said about being highly-touted recruit. “I’m just another guy right now.”

Ramil talked about the transition from Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama saying that “it’s not too big of a step up” despite going from the southern to the northern part of the country.

“I’m really comfortable right now,” Ramil said to the media. “I love my teammates. I love my coaches. I love the environment.”

Thompson has won four-straight state championships in Alabama, including the last two with Ramil on the team.

Ramil moved to Alabama in the summer of 2021. He was originally from Binghamton, New York, so he is used to the cold weather. With that being said, the weather wasn’t the toughest thing for him to get acclimated to.

“The speed of everything,” Ramil said about the most difficult thing to get used to at the college level. “It’s not like in high school how (if) you’re big, you’re gonna be a top dog.”

While spring practices haven’t begun yet, there are still winter workouts that players participate in. Ramil has taken full advantage of the winter strength and conditioning program to get up to speed and understand the dynamics of how practices are run.

“Everything is player-led,” Ramil said about the winter workouts. “The leadership is…to the max. If someone is slacking, we’re gonna jump on him.”

Ramil noted that he has improved since he got on campus, specifically with his conditioning.

"Just being around all these high-level players, I feel like my conditioning is on the way up,” Ramil said.

Ramil is among the seven true freshman early enrollees this winter (see full list here). All of the early enrollees are participating in winter workouts.

“I just wanted to get used to college life,” Ramil said about why he chose to enroll in January. “The training, the speed of everything, I knew it was going to be different. So, I wanted to get used to that and not just get thrown into fall camp.”

Ramil noted that MSU wants to “take care of the small stuff” this year. Ramil was asked to specify what exactly “the small stuff” meant.

“Are you gonna skip a rep?” Ramil questioned rhetorically. “Are you gonna do work after the lift? Are you gonna do the right footstep in a pass pro or a run block? Are you gonna be conscious of it and hold yourself to a higher standard than what everyone else will?”

Tucker is trying to build an elite program that can recruit nationally and win at a high level. Ramil understands that and is willing to do what needs to be done to get there.

“Teammates hold each other accountable,” Ramil said. “Leaders lead. They lead by example. They lead vocally. Everyone’s gotta be on the same page to get to where we want to get.”

While on the topic of teammates, Ramil has started to build a relationship with fellow i freshman offensie lineman and early enrollee Cole Dellinger (guard/center). Dellinger and Ramil are currently roommates.

“We’ve been really close in the last month,” Ramil said. “I’m very fond of him. I got a really good relationship right now (with Cole).”

Watch/listen to Ramil’s full comments below: